Doorcheck



Oct.29, 1929. PHlNNEY 1,733,514

- DOORCHECK Filed Sept. 27, 1927 INVENTOR Ebwnko D. HluutY Mommy Patented Oct. 29, 1929 UNITED STATES PAT C E;

EDWARD D, PHINNEY, or MOUNT ERNON, NEWYORK,.ASSIG'NOR ELECTRICAL SUPPLY COMPANY, INC., on NEW YORK, N. A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS DQORCHECK Application filed September 27, 1927. seria1No.-'222,30e.

This invention relates to a modification of or improvement in a type of door check dis-- closed in the copending application of Henry Smith, Serial No. 708,014, filed April 21, 1924:.

The door check disclosed in the above m-en-' tioned application consists of a rotatable drum, an abutment, anda wedge which isso positioned as to bedrawn in between the abutment and the drum When the drum is rotated in one direction due to the closing of the door to which the door check is attached and thus introduce a braking action which causes the door to shut very slowly under the influence of the usual door closing spring which is associated with the door check. I f

, It is sometimes desirable to have a door closed quickly for a portion of its travel and then to be checked sufficiently to prevent slamming, just before the door reaches a closed position. This is particularly true of spring doors where it is desired to; keep out insects.

The object of my invention is to so modify the construction of the door check disclosed in the above mentioned application as to permit a door uponwhich such a check is mounted to close rapidly up'to a certain angle and then to close slowlyunderthe influence of the braking actionof the check in the same manner that it would if controlled by hydraulic or pneumatic check.

This and other'objects and advantagesand the manner of accomplishing them will be more clearly understood by reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings. 7

In the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates a plan view of a dOOr check constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates the door check as it is applied to a door. I Fig. 8 is a sectional view'of the doorcheck taken along lines 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan VlBW. of a portion of the door checkshowing the braking mechamsm.

Fig. 5 is a view of a modified form of abutment and wedge which may be used in place of the abutment and wedge shownin Fig. 6 isa detail view in elevation of the friction wedge and guides showninFigs. Bandt. I y

The door check consists of a housing 1 haV ing a cover 2, which housing enclosesa shaft 3 rotatably supported within the housing by bearings 4; and 5.}Around shaft 3is' po-' sitioned a collar6 which cooperates with the bearing {L and a sleeve 7 which cooperates with a bearing 5. Shaft 3 is keyed to the sleeve 6 but is freelyrotatable within the sleeve7. Sleeve 7 is provided at'it's outside end with a flange 8 which has a series of perforations 9' within which projections 10 of a key member-11. slidably mounted on the To MANHATTAN shaft-3, are positioned, The key 11 is prevented from rotation relative to the'shaft 3 due to the hexagonal shape of the shaft and the corresponding hexagonal perforation in the key, within which the shaft is positioned. The key 11 is freely slidable longitudinally of the shaft and hence in order to vary the angular position ofthe shaftrelative tothe sleeve 7 it is necessary merely to withdraw the key 11 sufiici'ently so that the projections 10 disengage 'fromthe perforations 9 of the flange 8, then rotate-"the shaft 3 to the desired-position and-thrust the key backinto its former position in such manner that 'tl16 projections again engage'with the perfora tions in the flange. This key' adjustmentarrangement forms part of thesubject matter of the copendingapplication of W; F. Hendry,

221,001. Secured to the shaft within the housing is a brak'e'drum 12 whichcooperates' with an elongated friction wedge 13 pcsitioned between the periphery of the brake drum and an abutment 1 1, which abutment has integral therewith an arm 15 secured to the housing cover 2 by rivets, or other'suitable means. For adjusting the position of the abutment relative to the periphery of the drumthereis provided a thumbscrew 16 which is threaded through the walls of the housingl' and the cover 2.1 Ino-rder to draw the wedge in between the abutment 14 and the'surface of the brake drum -12 to its proper operative position, a spring '17 is profiled September 21, 1927, "Serial No.

direction too far the enlarged portion thereof will'engage with the abutment, and in the other direction the enlarged portion 21 will engage with the abutment, thus maintaining the wedge ata-ll times in its proper operating position and therefore preventing the wed-ge from jamming too tightly between the periphery of the brake drum 12 and the abutment 14 duringv the operation of the checlnv Surrounding the" sleeve 7 and attached one end thereto is a spiral spring 22 which spring is attached at its outer en 1 to the housing 1 in any suitable manner, for example by means of a hook portion in the end of the spring projecting through and engaging wit-l the wall of the housing 1, as indicated at2 3. ln'order to prevent oil which maybe used to lubricate thespring 21 from coming into contact'with the braking surface of the drum 12, a washer 24 is positioned between the spring and the drum. The sleeve 7 is maintained in its proper position by means ofa spring clip 25 positioned around the end of the sleeve and engaging with the washer .2 1; v; The drum 12 has a portion of constant radius, as indicated atA, a portion ofreducedradius, asindicated at B, and a thirdportionof gradually reduced radius, as indicated at C. These three different portion'sof the brake drum l2, which may be arranged in any desiredrelativeposition, cooperate with the friction wedge 13 to give the door check its desired operating characteristic's, in a manner more fully to be described hereinaften lVhen positioned as il lustrated Fig. 4 the function of portion C is to permit-free swinging of the door during its initial closing movement,- then gradually to retard its movement ;,of portion A, is uniformly to retard the intermediate closingmovemeht of the door; and of portion B, torele't ethe retarding force and permit free closing of the door just prior to its position, In order to insure the best action of wedge 13', the wedge is provided with a facing of leather or brake lining material, which besecu'red to the wedge in any suitable manner, for-example, by riveting.

As illustrated in Fig. 2 the door check is secured to, door 27 by means of a bracket 28 attached to the housing 1 of the door check. Attached to the jamb of the door is a hinge niember29 to which is threaded a rod 30 engaging with a lever arm 31 keyed to the end of latchii'ig the shaft 3, so that through the action of the rod 30 and the lever arm 2'? when the door is opened the shaft 3 is rotated carrying with it the brake drum 12. The shaft 3 extends out of the casing at both ends so that the arm 31 can be attached to either end of the shaft, according to whether the door swings righthandedly or left handedly.

.lVhen the door is opened from its closed position the drum. 12' isro'tated by the shaft 3, in a counter clockwise direction, as viewed in vFig. &,'until the point 32 of the drum assumes position adjacent to the small end of the wedge 13. Then the door is released, the spring 22 which has been wound up by the opening of the door causes the shaft 3' to be rotated and the door to be closed through the cooperation of the lever arm 31- and the rod 30. As the door starts to close the drum 1-2 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as Viewed in Fig. 4. As the portion 0 of the periphery of the drum, which is now adjacent to the fric tion wedge 13, is of reduced radius',-the wedge will not at first exert presure on the'brake drum surface. However, as the doorcloses further the drum 12 will continue to be rotated in a clockwise direction which will cause the portion of the brake drum of'increased radius to be brought into contact with the friction wedge 18. This will be brought about gradually and will result inthe contact pressure between the wedge 13 and the drum being gradually increased and as a result thereof the rotation of the drum 12 and the closing of the door will gradually be retarded so that by the time the portion Aof the brake drum has reached the active section of the friction wedge the door will receiveits greatest retarding efiect, as the pressure between the surface of the brake drum and the wedge will then be a maximum. The door will then close slowly for a period of its travel until the portion B comes adjacent t'o-the friction wedge. As this portion B is of reduced radius, the pressure between the brake drum and the wedge will immediately be reduced and hence the door will be'able to close freely under the action of the spring 22. When the door is opened again the drum 12 will be rotated from its closed position as shown in Fig. 4 in a counter-clockwise direction, and will, due to the friction between the brake drum and he wedge 13, cause the wedge to be thrust outwardly from between the abutment 14 and the surface of the drum 12 in such manner as to reduce any braking effect to a minimum. The check is then again ready to repeat its action, as above described. It will be noted that the portion G of the periphery of the brake drum 12 is of very gradually reduced radius sothat as the door closes the pressure of the drum against the friction wedge 13, and the corresponding braking action, will be very gradually increased in order not to put too severe a strain on the working mechanism andto preclude; any danger of amming the wedge so tightly between the brake drum and the abutment as to stop the movement of the door entirely. It should also be noted that bymaking the curvature of the brake. drum at the .portion C. change very gradually that the point of contact between the brake drum periphery andthe facingof the friction wedge 13 will be made relativelylarge and hence the facingof the wedge will be subjected to less:

wear than it would be if the curvature of the portion C were made very sharp, in which case the facing of the friction wedge would be rubbed by a relatively sharp hump of small bearing area. This question of a gradual curvature is not of soinu'ch importance'at the portion B of the brake drum for the reason that the angular velocity of the brake drum when the portion B approaches the friction wedge is very much less thanwhen the portion C strikes the wedge. In o der to prevent the facing 26 from slippinglrelative to the wedge 13 under the heavy strain caused by the por tion Glof thedrum hitting the wedge facing when the drum is traveling at'a high angular velocity, precaution should be taken to secure the facing tightly to the wedge. This may be done by placing rivetsat short intervals or by corrugating or furrowing the surface of the wedge 13 at this point of contact with the facing, as shown at Fig. 5. For this same reason too thick a facing should not be applied to the wedge as a relatively thick facing might be jammed out of shape by the impact of the portion C of the brake drum in such manner as to cause the thickness of the facing to be increased at a point just in front of the point of contact of the drum with the facing and rotation of the drum to be stopped. In order to overcome any tendency toward jamming or sliding of the facing on the wedge, it might be advisable in some cases to divide the facing of the wedge into a plurality of spaced sections each securely fastened to the wedge face.

In some cases it may be found advisablein order to insure positive and eflicient working of the door check to utilize the modified form of abutment shown in Fig. 5, which is so constructed to give a pivotal bearing surface for the friction wedge. lVith this type of abutment the wedge is permitted to align itself relatively to the face of the brake drum 12 so that the area of contact between the facing of the friction wedge and the brake drum periphery will be made as large as possible and therefore the pressure per unit area made as small as possible. lVith this type of abutment the portion C of the brake drum upon striking the surface of the wedge will cause the wedge to rock about its pivotal con-V tact with the abutment and assume a position substantiallytangential to the surface of the wedge at that point. As the portion C of the drum travels past the face of the wedge the wedge will rock about the abutment and tively slowly;

accommodate itself to the varying curvatures of the drum so that very little pressure will be applied to the wedge until the point of increasing radius of the drum has passed by the pivotal point of the abutment. Hence, the facing at the ,heel of the wedgewill not receive as hard wear as it would if thewedge were supported throughout its entire length, in which .case, as the wedge would not be free to rock around the abutment, a certain point of the face would receive the full shock pressure of the pointofincreased radius'of the brake drum as the drum was rotatedunder the high initial velocity of the swinging door. The tension of the door check spring may be adj Lsted for different working conditions by withdrawing the key 11 from engagement or out of the hinge member 29.

It will be seen that the above disclosed friction check, which comprises a minimum of working parts, can be adjusted to act in exactly the same manner that'a hydraulic or pneumatic check does, and withoutthe fluids,

cylinders, pistons and valves-used in such;

devices. a

It will 'bevobvious to thoseskilledfin the art that the invention-iscapable of a wide I variety of modifications and adaptations and that the present disclosure is intended mere-- ly to illustrate its nature without limiting its I scope, which is defined in the r following clairnsr .Vl12il3I"Clill11'l'iSim 15in a, door check, a rotatable'drumand an, abutment, a friction wedge positioned between said drumand said abutment, said drum having "a plurality, of inutilations thereon forenabling the major portion of the door closingsmovement to be effected rapidlyiand the final closing movement rela- 2.: A door checkcomprising a brake sur face adapted to be moved responsive to'the I closing of a door, :a friction surface coactllO ing with said brake surface" to retard the closing of'the door, said brake surface being mutilated at a plurality of places in order to reduce the coaction between said surfaces in such a manner that the major portion of the door closing movement is effected rapidly and the final closing movement relatively slowly. to rotate the drum responsive tofthe closing of adoor to which thecheck is applied,-a

3JA'door check comprising adrum, means friction brake surface, coacting with said drum for retarding the closing of the door,

anda plurality of inutilations on said'drum fol-reducing the-said retarding efiect in a predetermined manner.

a. In a door check, a drum, means for rotating the drum responsive to the closing of a door to which the check is applied and a friction bralre surface positioned to press against the said drum and'retardthe closing of the door, said drum bein shaped to reduce the pressure ofthe brake surface against the drum when the door is near its open po sition, and to increase the pressure as the door nears its closed position.

5; In door check, a drum, means for rotating: the drum responsive to the swinging of a door to which the check is applied and a friction brake surface positioned to press against the said drum and retard the closing of the door, said drum being shaped to reduce the pressure of the brake surface against the drum during the greater portion of the closing. movement of the door, then gradually to increase the pressure as the door approaches a closed position; i

6. In a door checli, a drum, means for rotating the drum responsive to the swinging of a door to which the check is applied and a" friction brake surface positioned to press againsttliesaid drum and retard the closing of the door, said drum whenthe door is near its open position, then gradually to increase the pressure as the door approaches a closed position, and finally quickly to reduce the pressure just before the door starts to latch.

portion of reduced radius so placed as to coincide with the greater portion of the wet ge surface when the door is in a position just about to shut and having another portion of reduced radius so placed to coincide with the greater portion of thewec 'e surface. at another position of the door.

9. In a door check, a brake drum and a friction member for pressing against the surface of said drum, said drum having a portion of gradually reduced radius of curvature so 10-7, cated as to lie substantially in registry with the greater portion of said friction member when the brake drum occupies a position corresponding to the open position of a door.

10.; In a door check, a brake drum and a friction wedge for pressing against the surface of said drun'i,-said drum having a portion drum being shaped to'reduce tliepressure of the brake surface against the of reduced radius located inthe neighborhood of the portion of the drum adjacent to said wedge, when the drum is in a position correspo'ndingto the open position of a door.

11. In a door'check, a brake drum, an abutment and friction member positioned between said abutment and said drum, said drum having a portion of gradually and uniformly reduced radius of'curvatur-e so located as to be substantially in registry with said friction member when the brake drum occu-' pies a position corresponding to the open position of a door and said abutment having a projection against which said friction member thrusts itself, and around which said friction member is adapted to rock.

'12. In a door check, a rotatable brake drum, an abutment and a friction member p0sitioned between said abutment and said drum, said drum havinga portion of reduced radius so located as to be substantially in registry with said fri'ctionwedge when the brake drum occupies a position 1 corresponding to the closed position of the door and a second per tion of reduced radius atanother point on the drum. r c

13. In a door check, a rotatable brake drum anda friction wedge for pressing against the surf cc of said drum, said drum having a portion of gradually reduced radius of curvature so located as to be substantially in registry" with said friction wedge when the brake drum occupies a position corresponding to the open position of a door, and having asecond portion of reduced radius so located as'to be sub stantially' under said friction wedge when the brake, drum occupies a position corresponding to the closed position of a door.

In testimony whereof, I' have" signed my name to this specification this 22nd day of September, 192 EDWARD D. PHINNEY. 

